I talked with Anya Cheng, CEO of Taelor.ai: an AI-powered styling service that’s revolutionizing how busy professionals look good without thinking about fashion.

Before Taelor, Anya spent 15 years at companies like Meta, eBay, and McDonald’s launching new products and entire departments. And her career almost didn’t happen at all.

She graduated from Northwestern in 2008, right in the middle of the recession.

Her story is one of the coolest I’ve ever heard. Watch out! She’s inspiring!

No transcript or things to read this week. You’ll just have to listen. Sorry not sorry.

My client had sent over his LinkedIn analytics from the past 30 days, and I couldn’t stop looking at it.

* Five hundred new followers

* 181,000 impressions

* Eight posts

* One month

I leaned back in my chair, let out a satisfied sigh and thought: “Another day playing the game…”

You're going to want to read this case study.

Nine behavioral economics principles from Rory Sutherland that explain why CEO visibility and thought leadership actually work—beyond the fluffy "personal brand" stuff.

About Rory Sutherland

Vice-Chairman of Ogilvy UK

Author of Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense

TED speaker with millions of views

Spectator columnist

Core insight: Most business problems are problems of perception, not reality

Recommended: Watch Sutherland debate Scott Galloway on the Uncensored CMO podcast

The Nine Principles

1. The Flower and the Weed

"A flower is simply a weed with an advertising budget." Being good is useless if you're not noticed.

2. The Barber's Paradox

You can't cut the back of your own hair. The Curse of Knowledge makes experts terrible at explaining their own expertise.

3. The Red Bull Paradox

The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea. Red Bull won by being smaller, pricier, and worse-tasting. Counterintuitive positioning breaks through.

4. The Peacock's Tail (Costly Signaling Theory)

Wasteful signals are credible signals. Consistent, substantive thought leadership demonstrates you're on top of your game.

5. The Frederick the Great Potato Strategy

Persuasion beats compulsion. The best thought leadership doesn't feel like marketing—it feels like thinking.

6. The Rogue Bee Strategy

Increase your surface area for luck. Every piece of content is a signal into the unknown.

The Luck Formula: L = C × R × D^T

L = Luck (opportunities that find you)

C = Content (ideas you put out)

R = Reach (who sees them)

D = Differentiation (how memorable you are)

T = Time (the compounding exponent)

7. The Uber Map Insight

Most problems are problems of perception, not reality. Thought leadership changes how people perceive what you do.

8. The Diamond Shreddies Principle

Reframe existing value. The best content helps people see what they hadn't noticed before.

9. The Doorman Fallacy

You are the human signal that makes everything else feel more valuable. Investors buy people, not companies.

Key Takeaway

The value of thought leadership cannot be measured in conventional terms—and that's why it's valuable. If it were easy to measure, everyone would do it.

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." — Sign in Einstein's office

Today we're tackling cringe on LinkedIn. Let's jump into it!

👇

You have the War Room stories. You have the access. But you might not know how to package them.

You might be sitting there thinking: “Morgan, I know what happened in the board meeting, but I don’t know how to turn that into a 300-word post that stops the scroll.”

You have the gold buried in your head. You just need a miner to get it out.

That is what I do at Thought Leader Today. I don’t make things up for you. I turn your notes into magnetic content. I interview you for 30 minutes, I extract the stories, and I package them without any cringe.

So, if you are one of the 10 CEOs who DM’d me last week... Or if you are listening to this and nodding your head...

You don’t have to choose between Fame and Dignity. You can have both.

Send me a DM. Let’s get you those views.

Many people think it's not important to be well-known on LinkedIn. You know what I think? That's a bunch of phooey. This episode will hopefully bring you over to my side.

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Come and say hi at https://www.thoughtleadertoday.com/ 👋

Let’s start with a confession—a safe space, just between us.

You probably hate LinkedIn. Honestly? I don’t blame you.

If you are a serious executive—someone running a Series B startup, a Private Equity firm, or a Fortune 500 division—opening the app probably feels like walking into a cafeteria where everyone is screaming for attention.

So, let's not be cringe. I've outlined 3 things in this episode you should think about heading into 2026. They are really, really good. I'm not biased.

Come say hi at https://www.thoughtleadertoday.com/. 👋

Today, I'm talking about playing the game of social media in 2026.

The basic philosophy:Goals make us play 'not to lose.' We become risk-averse. Games make us play to win. We take big swings because the cost of missing is low.

Which is what I want you to do with your social content.

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Come say hi at https://www.thoughtleadertoday.com/ 👋

What we're covering today...

Why You’re Hearing Crickets: Why writing like a brochure is killing your engagement (and why 22-year-old life coaches are beating you).

The Tyson Williamson Case Study: A post-by-post deconstruction of the 5-post formula that hit 100+ reactions right out of the gate.

Tactics: How to use Ugly Numbers, real dialogue, and internal monologues to build an economic moat around your brand.

The 2026 Checklist: A playbook for leaders who want their social content to CRUSH in the next year.

Whenever I post content, the comments section inevitably becomes a melting pot of hot and cold opinions. But last week? One came in especially caliente.

Let's see what we can learn..

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Come and say hi at https://www.thoughtleadertoday.com/ 👋

Should you care so much about what others think when you post?

Wharton researchers in 2017 found that successfully using humor in a professional setting increases status. It signals confidence (because it’s risky) and competence (because it requires intelligence to execute).

Seems like a good idea to me...

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come and say hi at https://www.thoughtleadertoday.com/